Building Your Network: 3 Things to Do Everyday

creativeLIVE recently hosted marketing guru Michael Port for a three-day workshop detailing his tried-and-true Book Yourself Solid system.

The most effective marketing, Michael explained, is based on full self-expression coupled with sincere and intentional networking. How do you put that into practice? Michael shared three things he does on a daily basis to strengthen his professional (and personal) network:

1) Share your network

Introduce two people in your network who don’t know each other — but who should know each other. This will show people that you’re not only thinking about them, Michael says, but also that you’re thinking about what’s relevant and beneficial to them. He also says that it shows you are a generous person invested in their future success.

Michael has one caveat and that is to make sure their professional status is relatively equal.

2) Share information

Michael suggests making it a daily practice to share relevant information to at least one person within your network. Reach out to them individually and say “I saw this article, I immediately thought of you.” This information-sharing practice will position you as a leader in your network, demonstrate that you are a learned person, and also build general good will — so that when you need something, you have enough social capital to cash in a favor.

Michael recommends connecting directly with every person in your network once a month, at the bare minimum.

3) Be actively compassionate

Every day, call somebody, write somebody, or send a short note showing compassion. This doesn’t have to mean reaching out to someone going through a difficult time — it can be a note of congratulations, i.e., “hey, you had a book come out, that’s so cool!” This displays social intelligence and fosters interconnectivity, Michael explains, and shows your peers that you are actively supporting and thinking about their wellbeing.

So, how many people are you supposed to be connecting with on a monthly basis? Michael personally keeps in contact with 90 people on a monthly basis, and recommends capping your network at 150.